Pete Hegseth ordered all 11 people to be killed on a suspected drug-smuggling boat in the Caribbean because they were on a military target list, sources have reportedly claimed.
Admiral Frank ‘Mitch’ Bradley told lawmakers this week that all of those onboard were known to officials as narco-terrorists and as such could be lethally targeted, according to NBC News.
The admiral reportedly testified that the list includes individuals who are eligible for being targeted with lethal action if the opportunity should arise, two officials and one other source told the network.
All 11 on board the boat that was hit on September 2 had been identified, Bradley reportedly told lawmakers.
The admiral was summoned to Capitol Hill this week to answer questions from concerned lawmakers over the legality of the strike.
The sources also told NBC News that Bradley made it clear in these meetings that he acted legally throughout the bombing.
Bradley said that he carried out orders from Hegseth as instructed, killing everyone on the list, destroying the drugs onboard and sinking the boat, the sources added.
It emerged this week that some onboard survived the initial strike. Bradley confirmed this to lawmakers adding that a third and fourth strike followed to sink the boat.
The details come as Hegseth made his first detailed public comments on the operation during a speech on Saturday.
In one of the meetings this week, Bradley was also grilled over whether Hegseth handed him a ‘no quarter order’.
Such an instruction, which is illegal, allows the military to kill all combatants even if they surrender or are injured. He said he was not given such an order.
An order to kill everyone on a military target list is not illegal under US and international law, NBC reported.
In describing the attack, Bradley told lawmakers that the boat was hit with a GBU-69 precision munition which was supposed to explode in the air.
The initial strike killed nine of the people on board and capsized it, two survivors managed to cling onto the wreckage.
Bradley said that officials spotted bags of cocaine on the boat, which was now on fire, and in the water.
After managing to clamber back onto the boat after flipping it over, the two survivors then checked their selves for injuries.
The two were seen waving their arms Bradley added, but he could not confirm if they were signaling a US military aircraft.
Another larger boat was spotted in the area, it was determined that the smaller boat was to meet with the other one to transfer the drugs onboard.
The bigger vessel was not on the target list Bradley said, therefore he didn’t have any authority to strike it.
He said the decision to strike the boat again was because the drugs were not destroyed and those onboard had not surrendered, were not visibly injured and were still on his list of targets.
Hegseth mentioned the operation during a speech at the Reagan Defense Forum in California on Saturday.
He also outlined the country’s defense priorities and attacked the post-Cold War foreign policy of the nation.
He also declared the age of American ‘utopian idealism’ was over, while demanding allies now defend themselves and suggested a shift in policy concerning China’s defense.
‘Out with idealistic utopianism. In with hard-nosed realism’, he told those who gathered the defense forum, Politico reported.
He added: ‘President Trump and this administration seek a stable peace, fair trade and respectful relations with China
‘The US will follow a policy of respecting the historic military buildup [China is]’ adding that the Pentagon ‘maintains a clear-eyed appreciation of how rapid, formidable and holistic their military buildup has been.’
He also heaped praise on other nations, specifically South Korea, Poland, and Germany, for increasing their defense spending.
Hegseth also refused to back down again on Saturday over the strikes, saying: ‘If you bring drugs to this country in a boat, we will find you and we will sink you.’
He also confirmed that it was himself that gave the order, and confirmed he left the room five minutes after the first strike.
According to Hegseth he was told that Bradley had ordered a second strike due to their being several survivors, Hegseth said he was told those who survived could ‘still be in the fight’, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Hegseth also said that he agreed with how Bradley carried out the attack, adding: ‘I said “Roger, sounds good”.
‘From what I understood then and what I understand now, I fully support that strike. I would have made the same call myself.’
The attack was the Trump administration’s first bombing in its two-month campaign in the Caribbean which has seen 14 boats blown up.
Legal experts say the attack in question could be a crime if the survivors were targeted. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have demanded accountability.
Democrats are demanding that the Trump administration releases the full video of the attack, as well as written records of the orders and any directives from Hegseth.
While Republicans, who control the national security committees, have not publicly called for those documents, they have pledged a thorough review.
Donald Trump has stood behind Hegseth as he defends his handling of the attack, but pressure is mounting on the defense secretary.
Hegseth has said the aftermath of an initial strike on the boat was clouded in the ‘fog of war.’
He has also said he ‘didn’t stick around’ for the second strike, but that Bradley ‘made the right call’ and ‘had complete authority’ to do it.
